The bridge will be closed for the entire long weekend

The Burlington Skyway Bridge will remain closed for the entire long weekend after a truck driver smashed into the structure on Thursday afternoon.

The official detour around the bridge takes drivers off the Queen Elizabeth Way at the Red Hill Expressway, which then connects to the Lincoln Alexander Parkway and Highway 403.

Police, fire and the Ministry of Transportation all responded to the collision. The driver of the truck, 34-year-old Sukhvinder Singh Rai, is facing impaired driving charges and was assessed for minor injuries.

He has been released from custody and is scheduled to appear in a Hamilton court on August 22nd.

Two construction workers who were working on a nearby part of the bridge escape unscathed.

The accident happened at about 3:40 p.m. Thursday. It appears the truck’s bed was raised, causing it to hit the scaffolding on the bridge. Three other vehicles, a transport truck and two cars, were also damaged in the crash.

A former official with Ontario’s transportation ministry told the Toronto Star that the bridge will likely remain closed for “several days” because of the crash.

Police are diverting traffic approaching the bridge at Eastport Drive. The province is in the process of investing in a $20 million construction project on the Skyway which is expected to be finished by fall of 2016.

Toronto bound Skyway Bridge is closed down due to an accident and it could be closed for days as there is concern about damage to the bridge